


birdboy and grumpycat17

by OrangePatrick



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Friends to Lovers, Interplanetary Travel, M/M, Mars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-22 08:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9596909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangePatrick/pseuds/OrangePatrick
Summary: Clint was born on Mars. Only, like, two people on Earth know that, and his best-- only-- friend, James, is not one of them. When given the opportunity to visit Earth, and therefore James, Clint is eager to tell James the truth: about where he's from, and the fluttery feelings that he gets whenever talking to James.(a The Space Between Us au)





	1. birdboy gets wings

**Author's Note:**

> idk how i feel about the pacing but i had fun w this so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

_September 12, 2033_

**[birdboy]:** they think that there’s been a breakthrough with my condition!!!!

         _Read at 10:47._

 **[grumpycat17]:**????!???

         _Read at 10:48._

 **[birdboy]:** theres like, hella surgery and a couple months of pt but after all of it i think theyll let me come see you :D

         _Read at 10:54._

 **[grumpycat17]:** Dude, that’s awesome! You’ll have to keep me updated on it.

         _Read at 10:56._

 **[birdboy]:** altho bc of travel and surgery and everything i probably wont b able to message you for a few months.

         _Read at 10:57._

 **[grumpycat17]:** You’ll keep in touch when you can, though, right?

 **[grumpycat17]:** Gotta go.

         _Read at 10:59_

 **[birdboy]:** yea man, im not going anywhere!!

         _Read at 11:00._

 **[grumpycat17]:** Talk to you tomorrow, Clint.

         _Read at 11:00._

 **[birdboy]:**  l8r, james!

_[grumpycat17 has left the chat.]_

 

Clint leans back against his bedroom wall and sighs, minimizing the chat window to look at his wallpaper, a picture of the original Mars mission crew. Standing front and center is his mom, who had been the mission leader. She hadn’t known that she was pregnant when the mission started, and then due to labor complications… well, Clint has been raised exclusively by scientists.

 

Sixteen years ago, NASA sent the first long-term crew onto the surface of Mars, to what was supposed to be a future settlement called East Iowa, but after Clint was born, the mission leaders decided to start the settlement early in order to keep Clint’s birth a secret. Apparently, it was bad PR to say “whoops, our lead astronaut had an accidental baby and we can’t bring it back to Earth because otherwise it’ll die! Sorry, guys!” So yeah, Clint was raised by a bunch of scientists in East Iowa, Mars.

 

When Clint had turned fifteen, to prevent him from crawling the walls and being completely socially stunted, the East Iowa mission control had allowed him Earth-communication access, and thus he had met James. He’d had to tell James that he had a specific illness that prevented him from going outside, which was technically true: Clint’s bone density was dramatically less than an Earth-born human’s, and his internal organs had grown a bit differently. His heart was a lot larger than average because his mom was pregnant in zero-G. Regardless, he’d had to pretend like he lived on Earth and understood half the references and jokes that James sent him.

 

He’s worried that he won’t know how to act around humans.

 

“Open,” Clint tells his door, pulling his arms through the sleeves of his blue work jumpsuit. His conversations with James always make him a little late for his shift, but it’s worth the trouble that he gets into.

* * *

 

_September 15, 2033_

**[birdboy]:** my surgery is scheduled for the 18th

         _Read at 10:34._

 **[grumpycat17]:** Dang, that was fast. Are you nervous?

         _Read at 10:35._

 **[birdboy]:** pffft, me? nervous?

 **[birdboy]:**  (super nervous)

 **[birdboy]:** mostly bc i won’t be able to talk to you for a few months :,(

         _Read at 10:42._

 **[grumpycat17]:** But you’ll visit me once it’s done. I think I can wait.

         _Read at 10:43._

 

Clint’s stomach does that weird fluttery thing when he reads James’s message. James is his only friend, of course, but Clint has watched plenty of romcoms and old nineteenth century noirs to know how he feels.

 

 **[birdboy]:**  definitely :D

         _Read at 10:44._

 **[grumpycat17]:**  Eugh, my teacher is actually making us do work now??? For the first time all school year. Lame. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, though, or at least before your surgery.

         _Read at 10:45._

 **[birdboy]:** wtf that’s lame. have FUN doing SCHOOL you loser

_[birdboy has left the chat.]_

* * *

 

_December 19, 2033_

Bucky stares at the empty chat longingly. Clint’s surgery had been months ago, yet he still had yet to receive any word on how it went. Clint had mentioned travel and physical therapy, but did that really mean absolutely no communication whatsoever? Not even a quick “hey, I’m still alive, no worries!” or even “surgery went to hell, sorry for getting your hopes up, see ya never.”

 

He resolutely sets his jaw and closes the chat window.


	2. birdboy crash-lands

_April 23, 2034_

Bucky sighs into his locker, searching for his Calculus book. He’s ready for the school year to be over already, with barely a month until graduation. Once he was done with high school, he could get a full-time job, maybe enter the military, start saving money for his own apartment. He’d stay in town for Steve, of course, unless the whole military plan took him somewhere else.

 

He finally locates the blue-and-white math book and is working on prying it out from a mountain of loose papers and tattered notebooks when he hears a tentative, “James?” behind him.

 

Bucky’s breath catches in his throat as he slowly turns around. Holy fuck. Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck-- “Clint?!”

 

“Hi,” Clint smiles sheepishly, waving. “Surprise?”

 

“You-- you--” Bucky sputters, wanting to say something scathing about the radio silence that he’d gotten for the past seven months from the person who was supposed to be one of his best friends. But instead, all he manages to say is, “You’re taller than I thought you’d be.”

 

It’s from the whole “gestation in zero-G” thing, Clint wants to say, but instead he grins and says, “You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.”

 

Bucky drags him down into a hug and doesn’t let go for fifteen seconds. Clint accepts it and doesn’t say anything about how weird it is, just smiles and goes with the flow. Then the warning bell rings, so Bucky lets go and says, “Okay, I have class. School gets out at three. You’ll be here?”

 

“Okay,” Clint grins, leaning back against the row of lockers. “I’ll be here.”

 

_April 24, 2034_

“What do you mean, I have to go back?”

 

“Your heart can’t handle the gravity here, Clint. I’m sorry. You’ve got another week or so until we can get interplanetary travel, but we need to go back to Mars as soon as possible.”

 

_April 25, 2034_

“What’s your favorite thing about Earth?” Clint asks as he and James lay out on James’s roof, staring at the stars.

 

“Weird question.”

 

“You gonna answer it?”

 

“The people,” James decides. “What about you?”

 

Clint looks to where, if he were on Mars, Earth would be in the sky. There’s nothing there. He rolls onto his side and stares at the long-haired boy beside him. “You, I think. Of all the things I’ve seen so far, and all the people I’ve met so far, this is the best. Being here with you, right now.”

 

James rolls his head to the side and meets Clint’s gaze. They stare at each other silently, breathing together.

 

“Why does that sound like a goodbye?” James asks, reaching out and tracing the arch of Clint’s eyebrow.

 

“I was born on Mars,” Clint says, reaching up and lacing his fingers with James’s. “The surgery was to increase my bone density so that I can stand up on Earth, but my internal organs can’t handle the increased gravity. Earth is too heavy. I have to go back.”

 

James scowls, scoffing and pulling away. “Oh, right, sure. Mars. Totally.”

 

“East Iowa, Mars. My mom was Edith Barton, the astronaut. She died during labor,” Clint rambles off, urgently needing James to believe him. “I’m a government secret. Only like, three people on Earth know that I exist, and you’re one of them.”

 

James turns away from him, refusing to look at Clint whatsoever. “Bullshit.”

 

“Please, James, I can’t leave without you knowing.”

 

There’s a wobble in Clint’s voice that makes Bucky’s shoulders slump a little.

 

“Why would I believe that?”

 

Clint’s response is immediate. “Because you trust me. Right? We’re friends, you trust me, I wouldn’t ever lie to you, ever,” he babbles. “I haven’t lied to you, either, because I really do have a weird condition but it’s because my mom was pregnant in zero-gravity, and I really have been confined to the indoors my whole life, because Mars has no atmosphere, and you’re my only friend, please.” His voice cracks on the final ‘friend,’ cracking Bucky’s heart with it.

 

“Okay,” James says, turning back to Clint. “Okay.”

 

_April 28, 2034_

“So you’re leaving tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What do you wanna do on your last day?”

 

“Be with you.”

 

“Clint.”

 

“James.” After a short pause, Clint concedes, “Eat pizza and pet some dogs. But do that with you.”

 

“Okay. Let’s go get pizza and then hit the dog park.”

 

It’s the best day that Clint has ever had. They get pizza from an old place in the heart of Brooklyn that James swears by, splitting a whole deep-dish pie between the two of them. After that, feeling full and content and greasy, Clint follows James to the closest dog-friendly park, where Clint gets to pet not one, not two, but three big yellow dogs (“golden retrievers,” James tells him) and a short-and-stout pointy-eared dog (“corgi”). Clint is in love with the four-legged animals, the way that they bark and wag their tails to express happiness, making him want to wiggle his whole body in joy, too.

 

When they start walking back towards Clint’s hotel, James takes his hand and laces their fingers together, but says nothing about it. Clint squeezes his hand, still thinking about all the cute dogs in all shapes and sizes.

 

“Do you wanna stay the night?” Clint asks when they reach his temporary residence. “It’s my last night, so we could have, like, a sleepover or something!”

 

James grins at him. “That sounds awesome. I’ll call my mom.”

 

Clint’s room is on the third floor, with a wide bay window looking into the street. Not really sure what to do, he sits down in the center of the queen-size bed while James takes in the room, stopping by the window and snooping through the fridge. Then James turns and looks at Clint, and something in his gaze is giving Clint those fluttery feelings, and now he’s not sure if this was a good idea, inviting James back to his room, but at the same time he thinks that maybe it was kind of a really good idea, and while all these thoughts are racing through Clint’s mind, James is moving closer and sitting down next to him, and there’s no space between them.

 

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Clint whispers.

 

“We’ll figure it out,” James answers, putting his hands on Clint’s jaw.

 

They meet in the middle, and then James is gently pushing Clint back against the mattress, or maybe Clint is pulling James over him-- and James is right, they’re figuring it out as they go.

 

“I think I’m in love with you,” Clint blurts in the middle of James pulling his shirt off.

 

James pauses, freezing for just a second. “Really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I love you too,” James returns.


	3. birdboy bounces back

_April 29, 2034_

“I’ll message you as soon as I can,” Clint promises, face pressed into James’s neck.

 

“Of course,” James says, eyes squeezed shut against the onslaught of emotions rolling through him.

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Then Clint is going, walking up the stairs into a rocket, and Bucky is being pulled away from the blast zone, and they can’t see each other but they’re still looking, and then Clint is gone, blasting away from Earth for the first and last time.

 

_September 5, 2036_

“Welcome to the Astronaut Candidate Program,” a short brunette woman greets from the front of the room. She has an air of authority that makes Bucky sit up straighter, roll his shoulders back.

 

A year and a half in the Air Force gave him the necessary pilot hours to apply for NASA, and so far his odds for making it to Mars are pretty good. After this class, he’s got an hour of free time that’ll be spent on a video chat date with Clint. He’s got plans, they’re happening, and he’s ready to go see what Mars has to offer him besides a cute pizza-loving blond with an animal obsession.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for birdboy and grumpycat17](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9964682) by [sian1359](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sian1359/pseuds/sian1359)




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